Mistake
by Professor Wolvie
Summary: Lin get's drunk at a party and this starts her down a new path in life. Re-write of my story Mistake.
1. Chapter 1

***Hello Readers. This is a rewrite of my story Mistake. In the AU the characters are a little younger so Lin's closer to 45. Hope you guys enjoy!**

_I can't believe I'm here. _

Was Lin's thought as she sat down at the bar. Bumi had gotten it into his head that there should be a party to celebrate Kuvira's defeat. She had tried to say no, but Bumi insisted she had to go, and Meelo bugged her until she said yes. Now, she's sitting alone at one of the tables at the back of the room watching Bumi drunkenly flirt with Izumi, Tenzin tries to keep Kai from flirting with Jinora, and Korra and Asami dance.

_Hmmm,,,,there is an opening in the dance floor, and maybe I can get to the door…._

"Do you want to dance?"

Her thoughts were interrupted by a man with greenish-blue eyes, spiky hair, and skin the same tone as Su's.

She snorted, "You know who I am right?"

"Yep," he said popping the P, "you are the chief of the police force, Lin Beifong. I just wanted to ask the prettiest woman here to dance."

"You're drunk," she said smiling.

"That may be, but you are tipsy too."

"Beifongs don't get tipsy and I don't dance."

"Everyone dances, some people just do better than others. Also everyone can get drunk"

"Care to test that with cactus juice?" she said as she smirked. Might as well have at least some fun while she's here.

"Your On!"

Lin is surprised when he manages to get through 10 shots of cactus juice without passing out.

She swallows her eleventh and says, "I'm impressed."

He smirks, "What, no one's ever beaten you before?"

"Not in a long time," she says while looking around the room. Bumi was passed out and Kya was on her way. Tenzin was trying to usher them out but to no avail. She really didn't want to be next on his pity list.

She looks over at the man, his cheeks slightly flushed, and says, "Do you want to get out of here?"

He raises an eyebrow, "And go where?"

She smirks as she stands, albeit a little wobbly, "Follow me. And try not to act as drunk as you are."

He gives her a half hearted salute as he also stands, "Yes ma'am."

Lin begins walking to the door and he follows dutifully. She was lucky that the rest of the people there were drunk and couldn't hold their liquor. She rolls her eyes thinking her mother would be proud.

The get outside the venue and she grabs him by his arm. She gestures with her head, "This way."

The enter the crowded street and she makes a few turns into their in a back alley area that not many people go to.

He gives her a questioning look, "What are we doing here?"

She gestures towards a sign.

He chuckles, "The Chief of Police as a sweet tooth for ice cream?"

"Only when I'm drunk."

He smiled triumphantly, "Aha! You do get drunk!"

She rolled her eyes at him and entered the shop.

* * *

The next morning, Lin wakes up to a pair of turquoise eyes staring at her.

"Where the hell am I and how did I get here?" Lin yells as she jumps out of bed, just as the killer hangover headache hit her. She blinked twice just to look around her surroundings. She was in an apartment, judging from the buildings outside the bedroom window, it was the west side of Republic City. The apartment bedroom had forest green walls and several paintings hanging on them. She looked around and realized that her clothes had been thrown all over the room. Mixed in with her clothes were clothes that looked like belong to a man. Turning to her right, she sees a man sitting up shirtless looking straight at her with those turquoise eyes.

"You'e in my apartment, and apparently naked," he said. She quickly pulls the sheet up to cover her chest as a blush faintly coats her cheeks.

"Did we...did we have sex?" she asks with concern inching its way into her voice.

"Ummm….from the looks of it yes, yes we did. To be honest I don't remember much of last night."

Lin looked at him with bewilderment in her eyes, as she realized she didn't remember much of last night either. She took a deep breathe.

"What's your name?"

"Zari."

"Okay Zari, here is what's going to happen. I'm going to get up and get dressed. I am going to walk out of your apartment and we're going to pretend like this," she points to the two of them, "never happened. Okay?"

He smiled and said, "So I can't tell people that I had a one night stand with the Chief of Police?"

She gave him her best death glare that scared all criminals.

He laughed it off and said, "Chill, I was kidding. See you around Chief." He gave her a wave and collapsed bado on to the bed.

With that Lin wrapped the sheet around her, and got dressed. She left the apartment without so much as a glance back.

* * *

_2 months later…._

"Chief, are you alright? You look a little pale," Mako said with concern etched all over his face.

"I'm fine," she managed to say as a wave of nausea rolled over her.

"Are you sure because you look sick."

"I'm fine Mako, you're dismissed."

As soon as Mako left, Lin threw up for what was the second time that morning, and what felt like the hundredth time that week. She had been feeling sick every morning that week, and was doing her best to hide it from her officers. She had been caught by Saikhan earlier and he had been trying to get her to go home ever since. She managed to play it off as a stomach bug, but she had no doubt that Mako went to tell Saikhan what he just witnessed.

_Knock, Knock_

_Oh great,_ she thought as Saikhan marched into her office, _Mako really did rat me out._

"Chief, may I speak plainly?" he asked.

"You're going to anyway so I don't really don't care," she said with an eye roll.

"You should go to a doctor."

"No. I'm fine, told it was a stomach bug."

He leveled his look with her and said, "Fine, but go home. You're no use here."

She raised her eyebrow, "Are you giving me, your Chief, an order?"

"Yes, as your friend and subordinate I care about you. The force can't use you if you're sick."

She gave him a glare and was going to respond, when another wave of nausea hit her and she ended up throwing up again. Saikhan gave her a look that somehow managed to be smug and pitying at the same time.

She shot him another glare and said, "Fine, you're in charge, and I'll see you tomorrow."

She collected her things and slipped out of the precinct without being noticed, since the majority of her detectives were at lunch.

When she got to her house she threw her stuff in the living room, bent her armor off, and collapsed on the couch. It took her about two seconds to realize someone else was in her apartment. She sensed where the person was, and groaned.

"Hello mother. It's lovely to see you," she said without trying to hide the sarcasm.

"You too, Lin," Toph said with a smirk, "did you bring someone home with you?"

Lin mimicked her mother's smirk, "No Mother. Your eyes bugging you?"

"Nope," she said rocking back and forth on her heels with smile on her face, "They're _really _accurate. Humor me, and use the sight _I_ thought you."

Lin rolled her eyes, "Fine." She stomped her foot on the ground and felt the seismic wave pass over the room. She saw where everything in the room was. She focused in on her mother and felt her heartbeat as strong as a badger mole's. She then focused on herself. She felt her own heart beat strong and steady, although something was different. It was like...it was like there was another heartbeat. Her eyes popped open, and her mother cackled.


	2. Chapter 2

"I'm going to be a grandmother!" Toph shouted. She whooped around Lin's house like it was the greatest day in the world. "Ha, if Sokka was still around he would owe me 100 yuans!"

Lin, still in shock, says "A) Su has given you five grandkids already and B) did you guys really bet on whether on not I would have kids?"

"We bet on everything. This one was if you had kids, whether or not they came from a one night stand," Toph said nonchalantly.

Lin shot her mother a half-hearted glare. She was still trying to digest the fact that she was pregnant and knew nothing about the father. She collapsed onto the couch sitting next to her mother.

"So, Lin, what are you going to do?"

"I have no idea."

"Well let's start with this. Do you know the dude's name?"

"Umm… Zari."

"Your the Chief Police, I'm pretty sure you can get someone to look him up," Toph said while rolling her eyes at her daughters slow reaction to the situation.

"That's not a bad idea. I'll call Mako and get him to bring over the files on anybody named Zari."

"You should order food. We're gonna be here awhile."

Lin went over to the phone and dialed Mako's number.

"Detective Mako speaking. How may I help you?"

"Mako it's the Chief. I need you to do me a favor without letting anyone else know it's for me."

"Okay….What is it?"

"I need you to pull any records on men named Zari in the city, and bring them to my house."

"Why do you need the files?"

"None of your business." She said with a hint of frustration inking into her voice.

"Fine. I'll be there in half hour," he said as they hung up.

Lin sighed and ordered some Chinese food for her and her mother to split.

"So, when you find him are you going to tell him?" her mother asked as they broke into their food.

"I don't know, it's not really convenient. I personally blame Bumi."

Her mother raised an eyebrow.

"He's the only reason I was intoxicated and at the party," she explained.

Her mother barked out a laugh, just as there was a knock on the door. Lin got up to open the door revealing Mako on the other side.

"Thanks, you can go back to work," she said shortly as she grabbed the files.

He hesitates, "Is everything alright? What's going on?"

"Everything is perfectly fine. I'll tell you if something happens." He gives her a concerned look, but he turns and goes back to the precinct without another word. He had learned over the years that people only talk when they're ready to.

"Found him!" Lin said after several long hours of looking through the files and debating with her mother.

"Thank God! That was exhausting!" Toph exclaimed, even though she had done none of the work since she couldn't see.

Lin shot her mother a look.

"Lin, I can feel you glaring but I am gonna choose to ignore it. So, what does it say about him?"

"Let's see: he lives on the West side, I knew that already, he's an artist with a shop that sells paintings, drawings, and ceramics. His name's Zari Yang. "

"Wait what did you say his last name was again?"

Lin looks at her mother, "Yang, why?"

"No reason, think I knew his parents."

Lin glances at the file, "His murdered parents?"

"Yep. What does he look like?," Toph says clearly wanting to change the subject.

"I could've told you that without the file. He's tall, his skin is the same shade as Su's so it looks like he has a permanent tan, he has turquoise eyes, and spiky black hair."

Toph grinned wickedly, "So the kid's gonna be good looking."

Lin glared.

"So what else does it say about him?"

"He is a veteran of the United Forces and served in Bumi's unit."

"Does it have an address for the shop?"

Lin flipped some pages, "Yep."

"Well, I guess you're going there tomorrow. I'm going to bed. Night Lin, Night grandkid!"

"Night Mom."

Lin stared at the file trying to decide if she was really going to tell him. What if he reacted badly? She couldn't raise a kid by herself. She sighed, tomorrow was going to be a long day.

* * *

Lin sat at a coffee shop across the street from Zari's shop sipping some tea. She was still debating on whether or not she wanted to go in. She didn't want to ruin his life, hers was already starting to fall apart. That morning she had really thought the entire thing was a dream until her mother had come barging into her room.

"_Morning Lin! How's my grandkid doing?" Toph shouted at the top her lungs, even though it was dawn. _

_Lin groaned, "I though that was a dream."_

"_Nope. If you want I can call Katara to confirm it?" Toph said devilishly._

"_She's in the South Pole, mother."_

"_Actually...she arrived at Air Temple Island last night. She wanted to see her grandkids, kids, and me since there is no way I would go to the South Pole. Why do you think I'm here?" _

"_I was a little a busy last night so I didn't think about it." Lin snapped._

"_Ok, I'm a call her." Toph said as she walked out of the room._

"_I didn't say yes! You're only calling her to tell someone." Lin shouted after her. _

_Katara arrived in about an hour. She banged on the door waiting for someone to open the door._

"_Hey Katara! How ya doing?" Toph said casually answering the door._

"_I'm fine. I'm just curious why you called me here and interrupted my breakfast with my grandchildren" Katara asked.._

"_No reason," Toph says casually before pointing at Lin,"oh yeah but she's pregnant!"_

"_Mom!" Lin shouted when she saw Katara's face. _

"_You're pregnant?" Katara asked._

"_Allegedly. I need you to check and not tell Tenzin."_

_Katara smiled and got to work. After having Lin lay down, she ran the water over Lin's stomach and confirmed she was pregnant._

"_Congrats. I am going to assume this was unplanned?" Katara asked with a sympathetic smile that was barely concealing her joy._

_Lin sighed, "Yep."_

"_Will you tell the father?"_

"_Yep."_

_After giving Lin instructions on how to take care of herself and the baby, Katara left to go back to the island. She told Lin she would recommend a few healers in the city before she returned to the South Pole, and wished Lin luck with telling the baby's father. Lin left to go to the shop shortly afterwards._

"_And now I'm here," _she thinks.

After staring at the art shop for another 10 minutes, she decided that it was time to go in. She walked across the street to the small shop. She opened the door and was surprised to see how organized the store is. There were several different paintings there. The one that caught her eyes was one of a badgermole and a young girl playing. From the looks of it, it was her mother. She had to suppress a grin and remember to tell this to her mom later.

"Hi, my name is Lee and I work here at Yang's Art. Every piece of art in here, including the ceramics, was made by Zari Yang. How may I help you?" the young girl asked.

"Hi, I'm looking for Zari, " Lin hesitates, "I'm a friend."

"Oh, he's in the back. Do you want me to get him?"

"I think I can find my way back there, but thanks," Lin says as she moves around the counter to the back of the store. She walks through a room full of finished paintings and drawings into a room that looks like a tornado flew through it. In one corner, there was a painting area set up. There were several different easels, and the walls were splattered with a variety of different colors. The floor was covered with canvases, paint brushes, and cans of paint. In the second corner, there was a drawing table. Around it Lin could see at least a hundred different papers scattered about as well as pencils and oil pastels. She looked at the farthest corner and saw a pottery wheel being used by the man in question. He was dead focused on the piece in front of him. Lin cleared her throat. He looked up.

"Hi, I never thought I would see you again. Please don't tell me have an STD." he says as mischief gleams in his eyes.

Lin shot him a look.

"No? Then was it because I was really good in bed. I bet it was because of that."

Lin gave him another look and said, "I'm not here because I enjoyed the sex."

"So why are you here?" he says picking up the pot he was working on to put it on the drying rack and picked another one to glaze.

Suddenly, Lin's heart started to beat really fast. She couldn't help but see the irony since she was a cop and was used to stressful situations.

"Um… I'm pregnant," she says barely above a whisper.

Whatever he was holding dropped and shattered. He stared at her quietly for what felt like an eternity before speaking.

"Well, I guess we're stuck together aren't we?'

It was Lin's turn to be shocked. "You're not going to run?"

He shakes his head.

"You don't think I'm too old?"

"Obviously I don't because I slept with you. And people have kids at all ages."

They sit in silence for a few moments as Zari sweeps up the glass.

"It's mine right?" he asks after a moment.

Lin nodded.

"Ok. I would never abandon my child."

Lin sighed with relief.

"I'll keep you informed then," she said.

"Wait, will we share custody? Do you know the gender? Are you still going to work?" he asked talking almost as fast of Meelo.

"Um.. I haven't thought about a lot of that, but you can come over tomorrow so we can discuss it."

"That sounds good. 12?" he asks uncertainty.

She nods, "See you then."

She turns on her heel and walks out of the shop.


	3. Chapter 3

Surprisingly Lin had managed to convince her mother to go see Katara for the day, so she and Zari could talk privately, away from her super-sonic hearing. It wasn't an easy task and for once she could see where she got her stubborn streak from. After politely kicking her mother out. After kicking her mother out, Lin spent the majority of the later morning pacing back and forth across her apartment. She also placed a quick call to the station to let them know she would be back until Monday, and that some personal issues had come up so she wouldn't be available until then. She had no doubt the press would get word of this, but at the moment she could care less. She was more focused on figuring out how she was going to work with Zari on raising the kid and him being now stuck in her life permanently. To say the least, she was freaking out. She was really considering bending a hole in her wall when Zari rang the doorbell to her house. She opened the door to let him in.

"Nice place," he said as he walked across the threshold. He surveyed her house trying to get a feel about her as a person. He knew all about her public persona, but from his experience people tend to be different in public than in private. Most of the house was bare and metal tinted. Work papers were also scattered across the table. She obviously didn't live with anyone.

"Thanks," she said awkwardly as she led him to the kitchen, " do you want anything to drink?"

"No thanks. We can stop the small talk and get straight to business if you want," he offered since he found small talk useless conversation.

In spite of the situation, she grinned. "Ok, so here's the deal. We are strangers who slept together once, and now we are having a baby. I will tell you about all the doctors appointments and update you on what's going on. We can schedule weekly meetings."

"Here?"

"Yep."

"Ok."

"We also need to address what we'll tell the press. Do you want to be mentioned or not?"

He pauses before answering, "It's your reputation that will be damaged. How do you think the press will react to a pregnancy from a one night stand?"

She groans, "They'll react even worse if we hide it."

"We could always just say you've had a secret boyfriend for years," he offers with a look of pity.

She gives him a surprised look. "You would throw away any privacy you have just so my reputation doesn't get ruined?"

"Well… I kind of got you into this mess," he says with a guilty smile.

Lin ponders over the situation. She already knows her family will flip, but she can always tell them the truth. This also solves some questions the press would ask anyways.

"Ok then," she says, "we need to get together our story and learn a little bit more about each other?"

He looks at her shocked, "You haven't run a background check on me yet?"

She chuckles, "Actually that's how I found you."

He grins, "Since you already know a little about me, I get to ask you first. What's your favorite color?'

She looks at him bewildered.

"A lot of stuff about your family, excluding private drama, is public record. You didn't think I would look you up?"

She gives him an impressed look, "Jade green. Are you a bender?"

"Yes and no. I am an earth bender, I just don't enjoy bending so I never do it. Are you and your family close?"

"We were estranged for several years, but recently we've reconciled. Why don't you like bending?"

"When I was 18, my parents were murdered in our art shop. I tried to mend the metal weapons and I still failed to save their lives. Bending can't fix everything."

"Why were they murdered?" Lin asked intrigued.

"It's my turn to ask a question, " he says dodging the answer, "Can you cook?'

"No. Answer my earlier question."

"I don't talk about it."

Lin looks at him and decides to drop the subject, "Ok then, what's your favorite color?"

He looks like he's pondering the question before saying, "I would have to say forest green."

She raised an eyebrow, "They're pretty much the same color."

He looked at her shocked, "No they're not. Forest green is lighter than jade."

She rolled her eyes, "You actually no the difference between shades of green?"

"Mmmm...I feel an insult coming but you're the one who named a specific shade of green as their favorite color."

Lin gave him a small smile, "Touche."

He smiles back, "Ok my turn to ask a question. What do you do in your free time?"

She snorts at the question, "I don't get that much free time."

He rolls his eyes, "But when you do, what do you do?"

She shrugs, "Practice bending. Reading. Occasionally go over to the island for dinner once in a while. Visit my sister. Not much."

He raises an eyebrow, "So you don't do much for fun?"

She shakes her head, "I'm normally busy."

He smiles and stands, "Well you're not busy now. Let's go."

"Go where?"

He smirks, "Out. You said you wanted to get to know each other."

She raises an eyebrow at him like he was crazy.

He smiles, "You kind of have to. I don't remember much about the night we met but I'm pretty sure you took me someplace without telling me where."

"We were drunk!"

"And we're sober now. We can still have fun," he says gesturing for her to grab her jacket.

She stands and grabs her jacket, "Fine."

He gives her a smile and steps out the door, "Come on. It'll be fun."

As they leave the house she walks towards her car. Zari looks at her in confusion, "Um… what are you doing?"

"Driving."

He shakes his head, "Yeah no. We are going to take the train and walk."

"I hate the train."

"Why? The most fascinating people are on the train. Plus, this is me showing you my world."

"Everyone just stares at the chief of police."

"Well it's not like you're wearing your uniform. And normally, if you don't talk to them, they don't bug you."

She groans, "Fine."

Zari shakes his head with a chuckle, "Ok. For today, you are just Lin and not Chief Beifong. Lin is the person I want to show around. Turn the Chief off."

"I can try."

"Good."

* * *

About thirty minutes later they stepped off the train into a poorer part of the city.

Zari smiled, "Welcome to my neighborhood."

Lin raised an eyebrow, "It's great."

"Come on," he said grabbing her hand. They dodged different people as he guided her through the crowd. After walking for a bit, he ducked down a side street.

In front of them stood a noodle shop.

Lin looks up at the sign, "This is where you wanted to take me?"

"Best noodles in Republic City."

He waltzes into the shop dragging Lin behind him. Upon entering the shop, Lin was surprised to see so many people in line. Zari gestures for her to follow. They step around the line and walk up to the front counter.

The server looks up and smiles, "Zari! Hey man, what's up?"

"Nothing just came to get some grub."

"Alright. Hey, you may have to wait a while, we're kind of busy."

"Or he can cook it himself!" an old woman's voice shouted from the back.

Lin looked up as a small old woman walked into view.

Zari smile, "Hey Mrs. Kim. How are you today?"

"Tired. Are you going to help or not?"

He looks over at Lin, "You up for it?"

She nods and the old woman and server look over at her. The woman gestures, "Zar, you were going to come here, eat, and cook, and not introduce us?"

"I was getting. Mrs. Kim, Wade, this is my friend Lin. Lin, this is my childhood friend Wade and his mother Mrs. Kim."

She shook their hands, "It's nice to meet you."

"You too," Wade said with a smile.

Mrs. Kim nodded and asked, "Can you cook?"

Lin hesitated before Zari said, "I'll show her how. Plus, we're just making our meals."

"Fine. You know where everything is. Good see you Zar. Tell your Aunt I say hello."

"I will," Zari said as he brings Lin to the kitchen area.

He glances over at her, "You really don't know how to cook?"

She shakes her head, "My mom is blind and I live alone. When I was a kid, Aunt Katara would cook or my mom or Sokka would throw something together. I guess I kind of cooked with him but that was a long time ago."

"Well then, today's your lucky day. Grab the onion over there and start chopping."

She starts to chop while he grabs the noodles and some chicken.

He chops next to her and puts the pieces in a skillet.

"Are you done with the onion?"

She nods and he grabs that. He throws it in with the chicken, garlic, and celery.

He looks over at her, "Now for the noodles."

In a pot he throws some seasonings and some chicken stock into a pot and waits for the water to boil.

"Now we just wait."

Surprisingly, the silence between them is comfortable. After the broth boils, Zari adds the noodles and chicken. It takes a few moments before the noodles are done and Zari slips them into containers.

"See that wasn't hard, was it?"

"Sure. Are we going to get to try it?" she asked curious to why he put the noodles in to go containers.

"Yes, but not here. I have one more place to show you. Come on."

"Fine, but you owe me. I'm starving."

"Trust me, it'll be worth it."

He turns towards the back door and grabs two orange sodas and shouts, "Yo Wade, I'll see you later."

"See you, hey don't forget to come by Ma's house to paint the walls."

"I won't," he says as he ducks out with Lin on his heels.

"Ok, where too now?"

"It's a surprise and it may take a bit of climbing."

"Climbing?"

He smirks and begins walking. They walk around and duck in and out a few side streets. They come across an old part of the city that had been around since her mother had established but had been destroyed. Zari started climbing one of the taller buildings and she mimicked his movements. Once they got to the top, the view took her breath away.

"Wow," she whispers. The view showed almost of all of Republic City. She could see all the way to the island.

"Yeah, I know. I've been coming here since I was a kid."

"I can see why."

He smiles as he hands her, her food, "Yep. This is my favorite place and favorite meal."

"It's good. How'd you discover it?"

He pauses before saying, "My dad showed me. We came here on the occasion."

"Where you and your parents close?"

He shrugs, "It's complicated. Are you and your mom?"

She grunts, "Not really. Our relationship is complicated. Do you have any siblings?"

"I have a little sister named Jiao."

"Are you guys close?"

He nods, "We got closer after our parents died and we moved in with our aunt and uncle. Are you and your sister close now?"

"Not that close. We're better now."

"Are you going to tell her about the babies?"

She raised an eyebrow at him, "Babies?"

He blushed and started to stutter, "I...I...thought….seismic sense?"

"It's been off for a bit and I only felt one heart beat."

"Try again."

Lin gives him a skeptical look, "Ok."

She slams her foot on the ground and she feels the baby's heartbeat. At first all she feels is one baby but upon further concentration she feels another. It was beating in sync with the first one.

She opens her eyes, "Wow, I can't believe I didn't notice it before. I thought you don't bend?"

"My foot hit the metal really hard when we climber up," he said with a shrug.

She nodded and said, "I can't believe we're going to have twins."

He smiles at her, "It's going to be fun."

* * *

Zari couldn't help but have a smile on his face that night as he laid in bed thinking about the future and what it might hold. He didn't really care, but he was sure of one thing: He was glad Lin Beifong would be in it.


	4. Chapter 4

Three weeks later, Lin comes home from work to find her mother laying down on her couch.

"Mom, not that I'm not happy to see you, but what are you doing here, again?"

"What, can't I check up on my daughter and future grandchildren?"

She eyes her mother as she walks over to turn the kettle on, "No. You only come here when you want to mess with my life."

She shrugs, "Fair point. I just thought you should know, Su invited me for a visit this weekend and she'll probably be calling you soon too."

"Ok…" Lin said as she poured her tea, wondering where her mother was going with this.

"Well...you're almost three months. Shouldn't you, I don't know, start telling people?"

Lin's eyebrows rose at that, "You want me to tell Su about the babies?"

"I'm just saying, it's a good opportunity. Plus, we all would love to meet Zari."

"You mean you would like to meet Zari. You and Katara are the only ones who currently know he exists."

"What did you two plan to do, keep the twins a secret forever?"

"Um...no. We just haven't talked about it yet."

"So, you see him several times a week and you two haven't talked about it?"

She shrugs, "Hasn't come up. We pretty much just talk, while he finishes work."

Toph rolls her eyes at Lin, "So what, you're just friends?"

"Yep."

Toph shakes her head knowing they wouldn't stay that way for long, but decided to stay quiet about it, "Well either way, he's going to be apart of the family. He might as well meet them."

"Fine, I'll ask him when I see him later."

Toph grins as she walks toward the door, "Great. Opal will be here Friday morning. Don't forget to take the day off," the door closes behind her.

Lin shakes her head as she sips her tea, wondering if she preferred it when her mother wasn't messing with her life or not.

* * *

Lin walks into Zari's shop to find it dark inside with a light on in the back. She walks into the back to find him intensely working on a painting.

"Hey," she calls.

He turns around and smiles, "Hey. How was your day?"

"Good. My mother stopped by."

"I thought she lived in the swamp?"

"She does but she came by to tell me that my sister was going to invite me up for the weekend."

"Oh, that's nice. Are you going to go?"

She nods, "Yeah probably. My mother...uh...she brought up a good point about telling my sister about the babies."

He freezes and turns back to her, "Do you want to tell her?"

She shrugs, "I don't know. It seems like a good opportunity. I mean, we're going to have to tell people eventually."

"True. So um...what are you going to tell her?"

"The truth, probably. But, like I told you, I don't really want to tell everyone the truth, like the press and Tenzin's family."

"Ok," he says fulling turning to her now, "I don't particularly want to tell my family the whole truth anyways. Um...no offense."

"None taken."

"So where telling them we've been dating?"

She nods.

"If we're going to do that, we're going to establish a backstory."

"Ok. What do you have in mind?"

He shrugs, "I bet you at one of Bumi's parties a few years back?"

"A few years ago, I probably wouldn't have been caught dead at one of Bumi's parties. Scratch that, I wouldn't be caught there now. When I met you, it was the one exception."

"Fine. The tirads robbed the shop like five years ago. We could say we met while you were following up a lead. I asked you out for a drink and you said yes."

"I probably wouldn't have said yes."

He glares at her slightly, "Ok, I asked you out, you said no, but we ran into each other at a bar later. I hit on you again, you rejected me, and then you challenged me to a drinking contest. I managed to impress you and we've been seeing each other ever since."

She nods, "That works."

Zari grinned in victory as Lin looked up, "So how do you feel about saying that this weekend to my niece and nephews?"

"Like you mean go with you to Zhao Fu?"

She nods, surprised at how nervous she was about asking him, "Yeah. It'll make the story a little more convincing. Plus, it might be fun."

He smiles, "Did you just say the word fun?"

She rolls her eyes, "Are you coming or not?"

"I'm in. If you just said the word fun, I'm totally in."

She gives him a half of smile, "Great. Be at my place Friday morning around ten."

"Will do," he says as Lin walks out of the shop.

As soon as the door closes it suddenly dawned on him that he was going to the entire Beifong Family. _What have I gotten myself into?_

* * *

"Hi Aunt Lin!" Opal greeted her aunt as Lin opened her front door Friday morning.

"Hey kid," Lin greeted her niece. Out of all her sister's kids, Opal was by far her favorite. Lin hears a thud coming from behind Opal and sees Bolin falling off of Oogi. Lin internally groans when she realizes that she's going to have to spend an extremely long flight with Bolin pestering her about Zari.

Bolin walks over and smiles widely, "Good morning Chief! Is it too early for me to ask you about your boyfriend?"

"Yes."

"Good to know," Bolin says swaying on his heels.

He perks up when he sees Toph from behind Lin, "Oh my gosh! Toph, you're here! I mean Opal told me you were going to be here but…"

Lin tunes out the rest of his ramble as she begins to feel nauseous. She glances behind her to see Opal and Bolin occupied by her mother. She steps outside and quickly walks towards the back of her house, where most of her breakfast came up.

She had been sitting there a few minutes when she senses a someone behind her and hears, "Hey, are you alright?"

She turns to see Zari standing behind her with a look of concern on his face.

She nods, "Yep. Just some morning sickness."

He nods and offers her a hand up. She takes it, "Thanks."

"No problem. I thought your morning sickness had gotten better?"

"It has but it still happens every once in a while. Especially when I'm stressed."

"Why would you be stressed? I mean other than the fact you're about to tell your extended family about your pregnancy and fake boyfriend. And you're sister the full truth."

She gives him a slight glare and he says, "Not the time?"

She sighs and gestures for him to follow, "Nope, but might as well get this over with. My mother, my niece, and her boyfriend are inside. Are you ready?"

He nods and follows her toward the house. We they walk back inside they find Opal, Toph, and Bolin sitting on the couch. Bolin was in the middle of a long story, but he stopped when they entered the room.

Lin cleared her throat, "Um...guys. This is my boyfriend, Zari."

He waved awkwardly, "Hi. Nice to meet you all."

Not surprisingly, Opal's the first to respond, "Hi! It's so nice to meet you! Aunt Lin's barely told us anything about you."

He chuckles nervously, "Yeah well I like to keep to myself. Sorry about that. I'm sure you'll learn plenty about me within the next few days."

Opal grins, "I hope so."

Bolin also walked over to greet Zari, but before he could do anything Toph says, "Bolin, Opal, why don't you guys finish packing Oogi."

Bolin looked slightly disappointed about not getting to properly greet Zari, but he still had a whole trip. He settled for a brief handshake before following his girlfriend outside.

Toph, eerily, looked straight in the direction Zari was standing, "You've grown since the last time I saw you."

"And you've gotten old," Zari, shot back to the surprise of Lin.

"Wait. You two know each other?"

"I told you I knew his parents. I would see him on occasion. He was always quick with the insult."

Lin looked at Zari, "Why didn't you tell me you knew my mother?"

"Honestly? I didn't think she would remember me. Guess I was wrong."

"How could I forget an insanely talented bender who quit bending? All that work I put into you!"

Zari raised an eyebrow at her, "You chucked rocks at my head until I bent the rock back and learned to defend myself. That was not a lot of work. Plus, I mostly learned to bend from street fighting."

"Whatever. Speaking of which," Toph says as she throws a medium sized rock at his head.

"Ow!" Zari says while rubbing his while Lin says, "Mom!"

"What? He knocked you up with twins from a one night stand. Plus, he obviously needs to practice bending. Now let's go. I need him to keep Bolin distracted while I sleep. Also, you two should practice selling it like you're actually dating," Toph says walking out of the house.

Lin shakes her head at her mother. She then looks at him, "Are you alright?"

He nods, "I've had worse. Um...just out of curiosity your sister won't have a similar reaction, right?"

"I honestly don't know."

"I'll be on my toes then," he says walking out the door.

Lin sighs as she closes the door to her house. It was going to be a long weekend.


	5. Chapter 5

So, when did you know you were in love with Lin? Bolin asked.

At that, Toph and Lin both perked up. For the last few hours, Bolin had been relentlessly questioning Zari. Most of it had been small details about his life and his relationship with Lin. Until now.

Zari hesitated before saying, "Well you know there were so many moments."

"Oh come on, man. Everyone has one moment where they realize that they're with the one."

Zari glances over at Lin, who he could tell was trying to keep a neutral expression, before saying, "Well...um...I guess there was one moment."

Lin raised an eyebrow at that and Toph raised both of hers, but both stayed quiet.

He clears his throat trying to ignore Lin's look, and he felt a brush slowly creep up his cheeks, "It happened a while ago. Lin and I were hanging out, just to get to know each other. I had chosen the location of the date before, so it was her turn to choose. She had to pick an odd place…"

"_We're going to Air Temple Island?" Zari asked surprised that this is where Lin wanted to take him. It had been about a week since he had taken her to the abandoned building and they had decided to hang out. They both had groan bored so, Zari had suggested a change of scenery, but he did not think the island would be the place she picked._

"_You took me to a place that was special to you, so let me return the favor. If it makes you feel better, no one's going to know we're there."_

"_Oh, so we're sneaking on to the island. Great."_

_She rolled her eyes as she grabbed her jacket, "There's no earthbenders there who will be able to sense our presence. Now come on, the last ferry leaves in ten minutes."_

_He shook his head as he followed out the door._

_When the got to the dock, Lin steps off to the side away from the view of the White Lotus._

_Zari gives her a confused look, "What are you doing?"_

_She raises her eyebrow, "Do you trust me?"_

"_Yes?"_

_She grins and goes to stand by the waters age. It was a surprisingly concealed spot._

"_A lot of trafficers in the city try to use this spot to hide from my officers. It's a small beauty it the criminal underground."_

"_So, why are we here?"_

_She gives him a genuine smile as she says, "For fun. I can be mishevious on occasion."_

_She then launches her cable onto the side of the ferry that had begun moving. She grabs Zari with her other arm and jumps off of the dock. Zari's eyes widen as they begin to fall but suddenly he feels earth beneath his feet._

_He looks at Lin and she has a smirk of her face, "What, you've never been surfing?"_

_He laughs and shakes his head, "Never like this. Did you come up with this?"_

_She shakes her head no, "My mother and Uncle Sokka did."_

"_Ah," he says as he refocused on the waves hitting the side of the earth Lin pulled up. The rest of the ride to the island they spent in silence as Lin steered and Zari observed. She had a peaceful look on her face. _

_Once they arrived on the island, Lin used the momentum from the boat to swing them over to a shallow part of the shore._

_Zari looked over at her, "Ok, where too now?"_

"_Follow me."_

_They started walking towards the back of the island, but keeping close to the water even though the shoreline was starting to become steeper. After walking for maybe fifteen minutes, Lin gestured for him to follow her on the rocks._

_Zari raised an eyebrow, "You want me to climb in the water with the rocks?"_

_She nods, "Yep. Don't worry, you'll be fine."_

_She gently starts to climb down and balances on the wet rocks. He copies her exact movements until they are almost in the water. She stops and waits for him to catch up. Once he's there he sees a small cave entrance inside the corner of the island. Lin begins walking towards it and he follows._

_The cave was amazing. The water went into the center of the cave but it was shallow. In the top of the cave, light from the moon shone through and reflected on the water, giving the cave a tranquil feel._

_Lin sat down on one of the dry parts of the cave, and he realized there was a fire pit there._

_He sits next to her and asks, "What is this place?"_

"_My mother and Sokka's hideout. Sokka showed me a long time ago. I used to come here whenever I wanted to relax or escape."_

"_It's peaceful here. Like the eye of a storm."_

_She nods, "Yeah. Plus, it's great in the summer."_

_Zari chuckled, "Yeah it would be great." Some of the water splashed against his ankle and he get's an idea._

_Zari reaches down and splashes Lin with the water. She looks up at him in surprise. Her expression quickly changes, and she shoves him so he falls off of the ledge and into the water. _

"...and that's when I realized I loved her," Zari said finishing his story.

Opal turns around from Juicy's head, "When she shoved you off of a ledge?"

Zari nods, "Yep," he said glancing at Lin as he continued, "I looked up from the water and the moonlight was shining directly on her. The water I had splashed on her was glinting off of her and she was laughing. It made her look angelic. I knew then that I didn't want the moment to end or the feeling I had when I looked at her."

"Aww!" Bolin squealed, while Zari blushed not really looking at Lin.

"Bo, you need to step it up," Opal said jokingly.

"Aww honey! It's not my fault your aunt is dating the perfect guy!" Bolin said.

"True," Opal said as she looked at Zari, "my mom's going to love you! Speaking of which, we're here."

Zari looked up and saw the giant metal of domes of Zhao Fu. They were gorgeous, but equally intimidating. Not for the first time in the past few days, he wondered what he signed of for.

* * *

"Oh my goodness Lin! It's so good to see you," Su greeted her sister as Lin slid off of Juicy.

"Hey Su," Lin said hugging her sister back.

"What about me?" Toph asked as she grumpily got off of the bison.

"Mom, you know it's always good to see you. How was the trip?"

"Great," Opal said as she hugged her mother, "Aunt Lin's boyfriend told the most romantic story."

Zari blushed as Su's eyes turned towards him, "It uh… wasn't that romantic. Hi, I'm Zari Yang. Nice to meet you."

Su gives him a polite smile as she shakes his head, "You too. Although, Lin has told us absolutely nothing about you."

"Su…" Lin warned and her younger sister shrugged.

"What? You haven't. Anyways, Lin can show you where you guys will be staying. Dinner will be in an hour, where you will meet the rest of the family. Mom, I'll take your stuff."

Toph nods as she and Su start to walk off towards the main house where Toph would be staying. Opal and Bolin went off to find the twins, so it left Zari and Lin alone.

Lin gestured towards the right, "My room's that way. It's off of the main house and it will give us a little more privacy."

Zari nods as he grabs both of their bags. Lin begins to protest but Zari says, "We're dating remember? Also, there's the other thing."

She gives him a small glare but allows him to carry her bag.

As they start walking, Zari says, "You know, you haven't told me much about Su's family. Is there a lot of kids?"

Lin nods, "Well they're not kids anymore but yeah. The oldest is Baatar Jr. He was dating Kuvira and helped make the spirit cannon. He's on house arrest here. Then there's Huan. He's a supposed artist. Opal's next, and then the twins, Wei and Wing. Don't expect to tell the apart. Wei, Wing, and Huan are earthbenders. Opal's and airbender, and Baatar is a non-bender."

"Ok then. You're sister and her husband were busy."

She nods, "Very."

She gestures to the carved out area they passed, "That's Wing and Wei's play pit. They invented some sort of game."

They continue walking and she points to Huan's art area, "Those are Huan's sculptures."

Zari eyes them, "Art is in the eye of the beholder."

Lin snorts at that as they approach her room, "And here is where I stay when I visit."

She opens the door to reveal a nice sized apartment space. The bed was huge and the room also had a couch, desk, and sitting area.

"Nice," Zari says as he places the bags down.

Lin shuts the door as she says, "You can have the bed if you want."

He shakes his head, "The couch is fine. It looks comfortable anyways."

Lin nods as she begins to unpack. They're silent for a while before Lin speaks.

"I'm going to do some bending. I'll be back to change before dinner."

He nods, "Ok. I have some sketching I need to do anyways."

She nods and heads for the door. She stops there and asks after a moment, "Did you mean what you said on Juicy?"

Zari hesitates, not really sure how to respond.

She shakes her head, "Never mind. Forget I asked. Good job with how you answered the question.  
Before he even had the chance to respond, Lin was out the door.

Zari sighed internally and pulled out his sketchbook. He looked the guidelines a painting a client had asked for before deciding to keep flipping. At the back of his sketchbook, was a drawing he started the night Lin took him to the cave. He had meant what he said; he hadn't wanted the moment to end. Not even the slightest bit.


	6. Chapter 6

Lin threw another rock at her sister's sculpture in the practice room hoping it would shatter into a million pieces. She could help but let out a sigh when she saw it was shattered.

"Thanks Lin," she heard her sister say sarcastically from behind her.

Lin turned around with a slight smirk, "No problem."

Su walked into the room and sat down on a bench, "So what's got you so worked up?"

Lin shrugs nonchalantly, "Work."

Su raised her eyebrows, "Right. Not the whole introducing your alleged secret boyfriend to your family?"

Lin sighed as she walked over, "Zari wasn't a secret. I just wasn't forthcoming with the information."

Su gives her a look, "I don't believe you."

"You don't believe I could've been in a relationship?"

"And kept it a secret for this long? No. I also know you're hiding something."

"Like what?" Lin asked.

"Like I felt way more heartbeats on the ground than I should've when you guys landed."

Lin was momentarily surprised at her little sister's skill. She chose to remain silent, deciding what exactly she was going to tell Su.

"Whatever lie you're thinking of, just scrap. Give it to me straight."

Lin sighed, "Fine. But you can't tell anyone about this. Not even Bataar."

"Done. Spill."

"I met Zari a few months ago at the whole Kuvira's gone party Bumi threw. We got drunk and slept together. A few weeks ago I found I was pregnant with twins. We were going to tell you and mom the truth, and lie to everyone else."

Su looked at her sister shell shocked.

After awhile Lin looked at her sister, "Uh...Su? Are you alright?"

Su shook her head, "Sorry. I'm just processing. I get why you're telling everyone Zari's been your boyfriend for a bit. The media would eat you alive if they found out you had a one night stand. And the council. So, I'm guessing since he's here, Zari's going to be involved?"

Lin nods, "Yep."

"Wow. Honestly, if he wasn't here, I wouldn't believe you."

Lin snorted, "I don't even believe this is the situation I'm in!"

"What did mom say?"

"Oh she finds it hilarious."

"Yeah she would. So, when are you going to tell the rest of Team Avatar?"

Lin shrugs, "I only thought about telling you because I was seeing you. I was going to mention it at dinner tonight."

Su rolled her eyes, "Of course you wouldn't do a cute pregnancy announcement."

"Why would I? Isn't bring the baby daddy enough?"

"You could still be cute Lin. Speaking of the baby daddy, can I meet him before dinner? You know, when you two aren't lying too everyone in the room?"

Lin rolls her eyes, "Fine. Come on."

The sisters begin walking the short distance to Lin's room. When they get there, Lin knocks on the door to let Zari know they were back and walks in. He's sitting at the desk with his sketchbook and oil pastels. He had mentioned during work for a client, so that's what Lin assumed he was doing. She had to stop herself from rolling her eyes at the oil that speared his hands, clothes, and face. That man really preferred being messy.

He looks up as Su closes the door behind her. He studies Lin and Su for a beat before turning to Su, "I'm guessing you know?"

Su, surprised at Zari's perceptiveness, nods.

He goes back to his drawing before saying, "If you're going to hit me or something, I prefer it not being on my head. Thanks."

Su raises an eyebrow at Zari, "You don't seem that scared of me."

He shrugs, "Not really."

"Why not?"

"Your actions against me would be justified. I don't blame you for protecting your sister."

Su looks over at Lin who shrugs.

"This is not how I thought this conversation would go."

"Me neither. By the way, you have a great eye. I noticed the paintings on the ceilings."

"What paintings on the ceiling?" Lin asked.

Su rolled her eyes, "Of course you would never notice. And thank you. I enjoy art."

Zari gestures to himself, "Same. It's relaxing."

Su gives him a small smile, "Yeah, it is. So, Zari, tell me about yourself."

"Um...well you already know I'm an artist by trade. I served in the United Forces for a bit and that's where I met Bumi."

"Are you guys still friends?"

Zari nods, "Yep. That's why I was at the party."

"Are you close to your family?"

"Yes. My aunt and uncle raised my younger sister and I after my parents died. My sister, cousins and I are petty close."

Su nods, "Have you ever been arrested?"

"No."

Su stares at him before saying, "Okay."

"Ok?" Zari asks.

"Yep. As long as you don't mess up with Lin or my nieces or nephews. See you guys at dinner. You guys should work on acting more like a couple by the way," Su says as she walks out the door.

Lin looks over at Zari,"Well that went well."

"Surprisingly. Now we just have to survive dinner and the rest of the weekend."

Lin snorted at that as she went to change her clothes.

* * *

"So… Zari, what do you think of Lin's new policing policies?" Baatar asks to make small talk.

Lin almost chokes at that question and she could see a slight smirk on her mother's face. So far, the dinner had been going well with her family. They had mostly stuck to asking Zari basic questions about his life and career. They she did not anticipate them asking about politics, which she and Zari had never actually discussed.

He swallows, "Um… well you know. I think that the policies could help the poorer neighborhoods. With the monitoring crime and all."

Baatar raised his eyebrow, "You disagree?"

"No. I just think it could be less beneficial if the people don't trust the police."

Bolin looks at her, "You're okay that your boyfriend doesn't agree with you?"

"It's a minor disagreement. Plus, he just said he wanted to add some thing to it which could potentially be beneficial. We've discussed it."

Zari looks over at Lin, secretly grateful for her interrupting as he said, "Yes. As you can see, it's a sensitive subject. So, Baatar, have you designed anything new?"

"As a matter of fact, I'm designing a new…" before he could continue Su cuts him offf with a look, "um...you know we can discuss this another time."

Wing looked over, "So Zari, do you bend?"

"No," Toph says quickly, "he's a non-bender."

He glares at Toph, "Not true. I can bend I just don't do it very often."

"Why not?"

He shrugs, "It's complicated."

Wing nods and the small talk continued on for a bit. As dessert rolled around Toph says, "Well this has been great and all, but Lin has something to tell you guys."

Lin glares at her mother.

Toph shrugs, "It doesn't look like you guys were going to bring it up."

"We were getting there," Lin grumbled.

"Tell us, what?"

Lin glances at Zari and he nods.

She clears her throat, "Um...well...I...uh...wanted to tell you guys that I'm….pregnant."

Bolin spits out his drink, Baatar's jaw dropped, and Opal's face splits open into a grin.

Su stands up to hug her sister, "Congrats Lin!"

"How far along are you? Do you know the gender?" Opal asks excitedly.

"Um...I'm about three months and no, it's too early for the gender. However, I am having twins."

That got another squeal out of Opal and the twins were excited now.

"See, I told you telling them wouldn't be bad," Zari joked to Lin.

She rolled her eyes at him as Opal attacked her aunt. Maybe it wasn't that bad.

* * *

The next morning, Zari woke up to hear Lin throwing up. He sat up and rubbed his eyes before climbing off of the couch. He glanced around the room and saw a kettle and some tea. He flipped through it and put on some of the ginger tea. He grabbed a mug and set in the counter. He glanced at the clock and saw that it was only four in the morning. He then heard more retching from the bathroom, and shook his head.

_Better, my butt,_ he thought as he poured the tea and headed to the bathroom.

He knocked on the door and got a grunt in response. He opened the door and saw Lin leaning against the wall of the surprisingly spacious bathroom. She looked up at him with a slightly raised eyebrow, "What are you doing up?"

He handed her the tea and slid down across from her, "My superhuman senses told me there was a damsel in distress."

She rolled her eyes, "I'm not a damsel nor am I in distress."

"Right…" he says as she watched her slowly sip the tea, "I'm sure your stomach would agree with that statement."

They sit in silence for a few moments before she says, "Thanks. The tea's helping."

"I'm glad. Ginger tends to do that," he says, "My mom used it when my sister or I had stomach thing. Tea was her cure for everything."

Lin nods as she sips, "That's how my uncle was, except he preferred jasmine."

"I prefer jasmine too. It's relaxing."

"Never pegged you as a tea guy."

He shrugs, "There's a lot you don't know about me."

"Like your political stance," she mumbles.

He winces at that and she mumbles, "I'm sorry. I shouldn't've…"

He waves his hand, "No. It's fine. We should've talked about that. I do believe in your policies. I just disagree with some of them. Well, not disagree, more of they need improvements or modifications. I uh...shouldn't have brought it up in front of your family."

She nods, "It's fine. It's not like you fundamentally disagree. At least you have your own opinion."

He nods, "Ok. Learning from this experience, there are some things we should probably talk about."

She nods, "About us or the babies?"

"Both."

Lin nods as she sipped her tea, closing her eyes for moment. He sees her swallow and he moves to grab the mug from her as she turns over and begins to retch into the toilet. He puts the mug on the counter, pulls her hair back, and begins rubbing small circles on her back.

A few moments later she pulls back, "Thanks," she mumbles.

"No problem," he says as he slides next to her on the wall.

The sit in silence for a few moments before she asks, "What did you want to ask about?"

"When are you going to tell the council that you're pregnant?"

She shrugs, "I hadn't thought about it."

He raises an eyebrow, "You haven't thought about it?"

She sighs, "Well I have. I just don't necessarily want to tell them. When I do, I'll automatically be on desk duty and the press will be all over the place. And then the other half of my family will want to get involved too. Especially Korra and her friends."

He nods, "That makes since but, it doesn't matter if you try to hide it. You're going to be showing more soon," he says gesturing to the barely visible bump under her tank top.

"I know," she says.

He sighs, "Well it's up to you when you want to tell, but I think you should do it sooner rather than later."

She nods and looks at him questioningly, "Is their anyone you want to tell before we officially announce it?"

He shrugs, "I'll tell my family through a letter or something. I don't really feel like being picked a part for knocking up the chief of police."

She chuckles at that.

"...although, I'm pretty sure the press is going to do that anyways. We're going to be all over the headlines."


	7. Chapter 7

Over the next month, Zari proved to be correct about him and Lin being in the headlines. Everywhere he turned people were asking him questions about Lin and the babies, including his own family. Most of the time he ignored it, but it was getting harder. The press was also harassing Lin, but she was admittedly more use to him, even though she doesn't enjoy them. He was hoping Pema and Tenzin would announce a pregnancy or something. He was tired of being in the spotlight. The only good thing about the attention was that his business was flourishing. People were starting to buy his art because of his connection to one of the most famous families in the world. Speaking of Lin's family, at least the one in Republic City, over the last month they had pretty much accepted that he was sticking around, and left them alone. Lin promised that would change as soon as Korra came back from the Spirit World and he wasn't sure if that was something he was looking forward to, Lin wasn't. He chuckled to himself as he thought of the stories Lin had told her about the Avatar; Korra was an acquired taste.

His thoughts were interrupted by a chime coming from the front of the door.

"Hello Chief," Lee greeted as Lin stepped into the art shop, "Zari's is in his workshop, do you need me to show you where it is?"

Lin rolled her eyes at the teenager's sarcasm, she was about to respond with a snarky comment, when Zari walked into the room.

"Lee," who was glaring daggers at Lin, "you can go home for the night. Don't forget, shops opening late tomorrow."

Lee grabs her stuff as she walked out the door, "You guys finding out the gender of the kids?"

"Don't know. See you."

Lee waves and slams the door behind her.

Lin smiles as she turns to Zari. He was covered in paint as per usual, and clay was plastered over his face. She chuckled, "Busy day?"

He looked down at himself, and a slight blush spread across his cheeks, "Yeah, a large order came in. I'm still not done, so I don't think we'll be able to go out for dinner."

"That's fine; I can watch you work." Lin would never admit it, but she had enjoyed watching paint or sculpt over the last couple of weeks. It was calming.

The two of them walked into the back, and Zari started to finish his painting of Ba Sing Se. It was quiet the room as Lin watched him work. He admittedly had stopped concentrating on his painting a while ago. He was more focused on her. Her four month baby bump was showing, and she had a serene look on her face. He smiled as an idea came to him.

He put down his paintbrush and asked,"Lin, do you know how to paint?'

Lin shrugged, "Kind of. Sokka used to try to get me to paint, but I didn't see the point since my mom couldn't see them."

"You want to try?"

"Why would I paint? It's your thing," she said trying to get out of painting.

Zari stood up from his seat and walked over to Lin. He grabbed her arm and led her to a different easel that had a blank canvas. He sat her down in the seat, and she turned to go back to her previous spot.

"Not so fast. Do you trust me?" he said gazing into her eyes.

Lin nodded realizing she wasn't getting out of there. Zari took her hand and dipped it into the black paint. He started to draw a circle, and each of the lines they brought together was smooth and graceful. Lin watched fascinated as her hand drew something she was unaware of what it was. Eventually, the symbol of the Beifong Boar appeared. Lin stared at how wonderfully done the drawing was.

Zari gently laid down her hand and said, "See, everyone is an artist."

"Yeah, " Lin said as she turned towards him, "I didn't think I could do that."

They were close to each other now. Lin could feel his heart beating. Zari was close enough to hear Lin's breath. He swallowed.

"You can do whatever you want, " Zari whispered as he leaned in for a kiss.

Lin jumped back, "Um...it's getting late and we have the appointment tomorrow. I should go."

Zari was surprised at Lin's reaction but played it cool. "Yeah, I'll walk you out."

They awkwardly walked to the front of the store and stood there for a few moments.

"So, umm I'll see you tomorrow Lin."

"Yeah, see you."

As Lin walked down the block home, she thought about her almost kiss with Zari. She wasn't sure what she wanted, but she didn't think she would mind if they started a relationship. She was scared that if she began a relationship with Zari, it would end as her relationship did with Tenzin. This time, she had two lives to think about besides her own. She looked back at the shop and saw Zari sweeping. He was going to be in her life anyways...Lin ran back to the shop and knocked on the door. Zari opened a question forming on his lips when Lin leaned forward and kissed him. She smiled at him, and then walked away leaving him with the dumbest expression on his face.

* * *

For Zari, the next morning couldn't come fast enough. He didn't get much sleep that night because he kept replaying his kiss with Lin over and over again in his head. He was confused on their relationship status and needed answers. All he knew is that he wanted to kiss her again. Around 7 in the morning, Zari got tired of pacing around his apartment. He decided to head over to Lin's house. He figured she would be up by the time he got there since her appointment with Kya was at 9. He groaned inwardly realizing that they would have to go to the island; he wasn't a big fan of nosy families.

He was about to knock on the door, when it flew open to reveal Toph, whose hair was flying in all directions.

"What's up Non-Bender?"

"I'm not a non-bender, you know that! You saw me bend when I was younger!" he exclaimed as he walked through the door.

"Yeah, well you don't anymore!"

He groaned, "Where's Lin?"

"She sleeps later, ever since you knocked her up," Toph said nonchalantly, "Are you cooking breakfast?"

"No, but I am going to wake up Lin," he said as he walked towards Lin's room.

"So no breakfast?" Toph yells after him.

Zari smiles as he walks into Lin's room. She looked so peaceful as she slept. Zari walked over to her side of the bed and brushed her hair away from her face. Lin began to stir, and her eyes slowly opened. They widened at the realization that Zari was sitting on her bed.

Lin jumped back and asked, "Zari... what are you doing here?"

Zari was about to answer her when he realized that he had no idea what to say.

"Umm...avoiding your mother. She wanted me to make breakfast."

Lin smirked at how awkward he looked. It was kind of cute. "You came to the other side of town to make my mother breakfast? Yeah, I don't believe that."

He sighed and began to ramble, "Well, she did ask me to make breakfast, but it was after I had already gotten here. I originally was coming over here to talk to you about last night, but I didn't know you wouldn't be awake. I actually didn't really have a solid plan….so….I know you aren't big on relationships, but I figured since we already have a fake one, we should maybe try trying one for real. It's okay if you don't..."

He didn't get to finish his sentence before Lin leaned up to kiss him. "I would like to try a real relationship."

He smiled and was about to kiss her again when Toph yelled, "Stop kissing my daughter and come make me breakfast! You woke us up at the crack of dawn, you owe us!"

Lin looked at him, "You do owe us…"

"Fine. I'll cook," he mumbles as kisses her cheek.

Lin chuckled as Zari reluctantly went to make breakfast.

* * *

After getting dressed, Lin walked into the kitchen and smelled cakes being baked. She saw her mother already consuming the food, and Zari eating one. His had some fresh berries and cream on it. They looked delicious.

"Lin, stop drooling and come over here and eat before we're late going to Baby Sugar Queen's."

"We?" Zari asked as Lin began to eat her cakes.

"Yes we. I want to find out the gender of my grandchildren."

"Of course," Lin grumbles under her breath as she grabs a cake.

"So, what do you think they're going to be?" Zari asks.

"Boys…" Lin answers.

"Girls…" Toph says, at the same time.

Lin looks at her mother, "Why do you want me to have girls?"

"Um...to pass down the Beifong legacy. Why do you want boys?" her mother asked with a scrunched up facial expression.

"They're less dramatic…"

"Sokka, Zuko, Aang, and Twinkle Toes Jr are all examples of dramatic men," Toph counters.

Lin glares and the two Beifong women precede to debate over the genders of the impending arrivals for the next hour. Zari watches amused the entire time before he realizes that they're going to be late to the appointment with Kya if they don't get going soon.

He clears his throat, "I have an idea."

Both women glare at him, "What?" Lin asks.

"Why don't we just go found out the genders? We're going to be late," he says with a slight smirk.

Lin glances at the clock while Toph rolls her eyes at her daughter's boyfriend, "You're right. Come on, Mom."

Toph waves her hands for them to stop, "Uh...uh...uh. Not just yet. As per tradition in the Beifong family, we need to wager some money on the gender to properly settle this argument."

Zari raises an eyebrow, "That's a thing?"

Lin ignores him and says, "100 yuans that they are boys."

"Ok then," Toph says standing up and about to head for the door, "and I have 100 yuans on girls. Let's go."

"Wait, wait, wait," Zari says to the two women who had now left the table and where heading to the door.

They turn, "What?"

"Am I aloud to bet in this?"

Lin raises an eyebrow, "You're going to bet against me, the mother of your children?"

Toph does an almost identical motion, "You're going to bet against me, your mentor and the greatest earth bender of all time?"

Zari gives them a small smile, "I could never choose between the two of you. That's why I'm placing 100 yuans on there being one boy and one girl. _Now_, let's go," he said walking past the two shocked women.

Toph glances at Lin, "Yep. He's a keeper. Now come on, let's go prove me right."

* * *

After the appointment, Lin and Zari left Toph on the island and took the ferry back to the mainland. They started a nice walk towards Zari's apartment, where they planned to have a lunch date. Zari was overwhelmed by the everything that was happening in his life. He was starting a new relationship with a wonderful women, having two babies, his business was flourishing, and his girlfriends family was just a little bit crazy. The hour long conversation and the bet spoke volumes to him.

"Yuan for your thoughts?" Lin interrupted as the neared the apartment building.

"Just thinking about the bet we made earlier today."

"Oh yeah, don't-" Lin's sentence was cut off when Zari's apartment building went up into flames. Lin and Zari both were thrown backwards as the building began to collapse.

"Lin!" Zari shouted, concern evident in his voice.

"I'm fine! We need to go get the people out of the building!" she said as she began to run towards the building.

Zari grabbed her before she could get too far, "Lin! You are pregnant! Stay here and wait for your officers. Do some crowd control. You need to think about the twins."

Lin's eyes flashed with anger but she did understand she needed to think about the twins, "Fine! I'll secure the building from out here."

Zari nodded as she began to bend pillars of earth to hold up the building. He watched her work and decided to help. He started to run towards the building and bent the earth around him to boost himself into the nearest window. He didn't miss the look of surprise on Lin's face before he went into the fire. He began shouting people's names and escorting people out through a whole he had bent on the side of the building. He had gotten to the top floor where his apartment was located by the time Lin's officers had entered the building.

"Zari!" Mako shouted as he spotted the man who was currently dating his worried, hormonal, and pregnant boss, "we need to get out of here! The building is about to collapse!"

"We can't! There is still a little girl over here!"

While Zari and Mako were inside the building, Lin and the other officers were doing all they could to make sure the building didn't collapse. Lin was slowly growing more anxious the longer Zari stayed in the building. She knew that despite their best efforts, that building would collapse in a few minutes. She was ordering her men to be prepared for the building's collapse when Tenzin flew in on Oogi.

"Lin, what can I do to help?" he asked, just as she saw a flash of lightning by one of the top floor windows. She knew the sign was from Mako; he had made it up in case he needed help escaping a situation.

"Tenzin, I need you to fly to the window where the lightning is and barring Zari and Mako down. The building will collapse in the next few minutes."

Tenzin nodded and began to fly towards the window.

After Mako had sent the lightning strike, he, Zari, and the little girl waited for someone to come get them. They spotted Tenzin at the window and slowly inched toward him since the wood beneath them was slowly giving out.

"Ok, sweetheart, you are going to see your mommy as soon as I hand you over to this nice man, ok?" Zari asked the little girl as he slowly handed her to Tenzin. Out of the corner of his eye, he saw a piece of paper being to melt. On the piece of paper, there was a picture of an green dragon curled around two dual swords. His eyes widened and before he could react, he Mako felt the floor shaking.

All three men glanced at each other before Tenzin shouted, "Run!"

Mako made a jump for the bison but Zari wasn't close enough. The wood had collapsed underneath feet and he began to fall with building. Tenzin tried to aim Oogi to catch him, but the flames reared up making Oogi roar in pain.

"Zari!" both men shouted as they watched in horror as the building collapsed on top of him.

Tenzin flew Oogi to the grown where Lin and the young girls mother met them. The little girl hopped down into her mother's arms while Tenzin gave Lin the most somber look. She looked to the back of the bison and saw Mako sitting alone. Her eyes slowly began widen.

"Ten, where is Zari?" she asked slowly.

"Lin...I'm so sorry. He...he was in the building when it fell."

Lin slammed her foot to try to find where Zari was. She didn't sense anyone's presence underneath the building. She had to try not to let out a scream.

"Lin, I am so sorry. Do you want to stay at the island tonight? Your mom is still there," Tenzin said gently.

"No umm… I'm going to go home. Mako, can you and Saikhan finish the paperwork? I'll start investigating tomorrow," Lin said, honestly wanting to be alone.

Mako nodded as Lin began to walk away. Once she was far enough away from the crime scene, she began to rub her belly where the twins were still growing. Tears threatend to be shed but instead she just swallowed them. Lin mumbled underneath her breath, "I owed him 100 yuans."

* * *

Zari groaned, his head felt like a truck hit it. He opened his eyes and he realized he was in a cell and he knew exactly where he was.

"Hello, Zari. Aren't you happy to be home?" a woman asked coming out of the shadows.


	8. Chapter 8

It had been a two months since Zari's death, and Lin's life had been miserable. She had thrown herself into her work to try to discover the reason for the attack. The case hadn't exactly gone cold, but it was stalled. It was like there was a piece of information missing. Lin had traced the fire to gang connections, but any evidence of which gang it was, was destroyed in the fire. The entire thing made Lin frustrated, so she ended up looking into any gang that could have a connection to Zari or his parents. She was doing another read of the file on Zari's parents when her mother and Kya barged into her office. Lin barely glanced up, but she did notice that her officers were making themselves very scarce at the moment.

"Lin!" Kya yelled,"You missed your appointment! These things are essential…" Kya continued on her rant until she realized that Lin wasn't paying her any attention.

"Lin!" she yelled again, and Lin's head shot up.

"I'm sorry Kya for missing the appointment. I've just been busy, and I forgot."

"You can't forget these things. What if something bad happened?"

"Let her be, Baby Sugar Queen," Toph interrupted, "Is that the Yang murder file?" she asked after hearing Lin turn the page.

"Yeah. It's the only lead I have right now." Lin answered honestly.

"Look, before you two talk all business, can I give you a check up Lin? You can take a lunch break and head over to the island."

Lin glared at her cousin, "Fine. I'll be there at 1."

"Glad to know." Kya said as she walked out of the room, "Toph, come on."

"I'll meet you there later," Toph said staring off to space. Kya looked at her aunt with a confused look, but nodded her head and kept walking. As soon as Kya left the room, Toph turned to face Lin.

"Lin, I'm going to tell you something's about Zari, and you are going to be mad."

Lin gave her mother a look,"Mother, I am in no mood for your games."

"It's not a game. Can I speak without you interrupting me?"

Lin nodded, still unsure if she wanted to hear what her mother had to say.

"I think Zari's alive."

"What?!"

"No interruptions. You know how I said knew Zari's parents? Well, the Yang's weren't Zari's biological parents. They were just the people Sokka, and I placed him with to keep him safe. Zari's real name is Piandao Zarif, and he's Sokka's son," Toph paused waiting for Lin to react.

Lin looked at her mother bewildered, "Uncle Sokka had a son?"

Toph nodded.

"Ok...how come none of us knew about him?"

"His mother was a woman who went by the name of Lea. She led a gang called the Wyverns. They had been terrorizing the city for months, and I was in charge of stopping them. I needed help, and I figured I would bend the law a little. I asked Sokka and…." Toph swallows before continuing, "and Kanto for help. At the time, the council was starting to form, so Sokka wasn't nearly as popular as the rest of us. I had him seduce Lea in hopes of gaining her trust. Kanto worked as his bodyguard. After a few months, we had gotten the info we needed, and the Wyverns were out of the city. Like most gangs, it was in other cities so, eventually, it would reform. It would've been harder to rebuild if we had thrown the leader into prison for life, but we didn't. She was pregnant with Sokka's child. Aang decided to let her be off house arrest for the last few months before we sent her away. She managed to escape after giving birth. Sokka couldn't raise him himself because Zari would be in too much danger, so he gave him to the Yangs to take care of him. Sokka saw him on occasions but decided against telling him the truth. Zari eventually found out when Lea decided to murder his parents. She didn't like being replaced, and all she wanted was her son. The real reason Zari doesn't bend is that, like his mother, he's an extremely talented earth bender. He doesn't bend because he wants to distance himself from her."

Lin nodded still trying to process what her mother was telling her, "So, Uncle Sokka has a son who he couldn't raise because the baby momma is crazy, the reason this file is barely filled out is to protect Zari's identity, and you somehow became pregnant with me during that time."

Toph nodded.

Lin was about to ask about her father but then thought better of it. This was the most her mother had ever said about her father, and she didn't want to push it. "Ok, so how does this all equate to you believing Zari is alive?"

"There was no body. The Wyvern used to burn stuff all the time since they thought they were dragons, and one of the tenants told me that he saw their symbol on a piece of paper before it burned. I kept it from you until I was more sure about telling you the complete truth."

Lin put her hand on her forehead trying to keep from yelling at her mother about hiding evidence. She already knew Toph could tell she was upset from her raised heartrate.

Lin breathed out and said, "Do you have a copy of stuff about the gang? I need to find him."

Toph pointed to the safe on the wall, "Good luck, and for what it's worth, I kind of regret not telling you the truth," Toph said as she walked out the room. She paused before entering the doorway, "Um… about Kanto. We were dating, and it wasn't just a one night stand with one of my subordinates. During the raid on the Wyrens, Lea managed to hold him captured. I tried to get him out of that situations, but she opened up a lava pit and pushed him in. I found out I was pregnant about a week after the funeral. The sad thing is he would've been a great officer, but an even better father." Toph finished her story and walked away as she wiped a tear that had managed to escape and roll down her cheek.

Lin stared at her mother, completely shocked that Toph had even mentioned her father let alone the entire story. She was happy that her mother had finally told her the truth about her father. Lin rubbed her belly as she smiled sadly. She never had a father, but she is determined that her children will.

* * *

Zari held back a scream of pain as his ribs were broken for what felt like the hundredth time in two months.

"Get back into your cell, and don't try to leave again!" the guard yelled.

Zari groaned as he fell back against the wall. It had been 2 months since he had "died." In that time, he had been beaten and tortured by his mother's goons for refusing to join their gang. He had managed to stay out the gang, but he knew their patience was wearing thin. His mother had told him if he didn't start using the talent she gave him, then she would find a way to kill Lin and the babies. He was at a lost at what to do. On one hand he could give in to the abuse and do the one thing Sokka tried to protect him from, but on the other hand he couldn't let his mother hurt his children or Lin.

"So Zari," his mother said as she walked towards his cell, "have you made your decision?"

Zari looked at his mother with remorse written all over his face. He spoke barely above a whisper, "I'll do it."

His mother smirked at him, "So, you've finally decided to join the family business."

"Only if you promise not to go near Lin or my children."

"As you wish my son."

* * *

"Chief! I got it! I think I Know where Zari is!" Mako shouted as he ran into his boss's office.

Lin's head shot up from the report she was reading, and her eyes beckoned Mako to go on.

"Alleged Wyrens activity has been spotted on the east side of the city. Rumor on the streets is that they plan to demolish the pro-bending arena to announce their official return. I bet Lea will have Zari there with her."

Lin nodded in agreement, "When do they plan to act?"

"Tonight."

"Get as many men as you can over there. We also need to tell Tenzin and Korra of the attack since this falls underneath terrorism. I will call them, and then meet you at the arena."

"Umm...Chief are you forgetting something?"

Lin gave Mako a quizzitive look, and followed his eyes to where they landed on her six month pregnant stomach.

"Mako, I'll be fine. Go do what I told you to do. That's an order."

"Yes, ma'am," Mako said as he walked out of the room.

Lin called Tenzin and told him what was going on. He agreed to meet her there, only if she promised to stay out of the way. She agreed, and told him to hurry up. She made her way to the car Saikhan was driving, and unlike every officer in the precinct, he didn't give her a questioning look. When they arrived on the scene, Tenzin and Korra were already there. Lin gave the order for the men to spread out and search the pro-bending arena. Korra and Tenzin went directly to the building while Lin waited outside hoping that Zari was in there.

* * *

Zari walked into the arena with his mother standing on his right side.

"Are you ready to make some chaos Zari?"

He gulped as he slammed his foot onto the ground destroying the seats and the benders fighting. People began screaming and trying to run out of the arena. He looked up and saw police officers entering the building. He slammed his foot a second time, and a waves of lava were bent towards the officers. They all fell backwards. His mother used her seismic sense skills to locate the officers behind them to take them out. Her face scrunched in disgust as she realized who was outside.

"Zari, continue to take down the building and officers. I don't care what happens to the people, but remember our deal. I have something I must take care of," she said as she walked away.

He nodded as he tore the metal beams from the ceilings. All he was really thinking about was how mad Lin was going to be when she saw what he was doing. She was going to kill him and he was definitely going to jail. There was no way he'd surive jail.

He slammed his foot on the ground and realized he felt a familiar presence. His eyes widened when he realized where his mother was going.

* * *

Lin jumped as the building began to collapse in front of her. She began ordering her officers into different parts of the building to keep it stable while they escorted people out. She was in the middle of shouting an order when she felt the earth shift underneath her feet. Her head shot up to her left to where she immediately spotted Lea walking towards her with a grin on her face.

"So, Chief, you're the one carrying my grandchildren."

Lin threw a earth wall at her, which Lea easily dodged and countered with a boulder that knocked Lin on to her knees. Lin gasped when she felt a sharp pain in her belly where the twins were kicking.

"You know, my son is surprisingly in love with you. He agreed to do my bidding as long as I didn't harm you or the children. What he doesn't know won't hurt him," she grinned wickedly.

Lin tried to bend metal around Lea, but she dodged and hit Lin again.

Lin spit out blood and said, "You'll never win."

Lea cackled, "Oh, I think this is going to be fun."

* * *

Zari turned to go after his mother but he flew forward as water slapped him. He sits up and sees the Avatar standing with serval of Lin's officers.

"Surrender now and no one has to get hurt, " Korra says slowly.

Zari moves to explain the situation to Korra when he sees an officers metal cable sling out to him. He snaps the metal away from himself and it flies back towards the officers, knocking him down. He glances back to Korra who looked really pissed off.

"Wait! I-" he's cut off when he dodges one of the Avatar's fire bombs.

He counters by throwing a wall of lava at her and bending the metal seats the officers stood on from underneath them.

"You can bend lava and metal?!" Korra asked surprised before shooting air at him.

He dodges it, "Look Korra. It's not what you think. I need to go…"

He can see she's pissed now and he sighs. He bends the earth around her feet into lava and the grabs some of the metal from around the stadium. He bends it into a metal dome combined with lava, around her and he hears her banging to be released.

"Sorry!" he yells apologetically, "I have to find Lin. By the way, all of this was done under duress."

* * *

Lin held back a screamed as she felt Lea slammed her into the wall. Every part of her body screamed out in pain. She couldn't bend because Lea had chi-blocked her, and she was terrified of losing her children. She blacked out.

"Well, let's see what other damage can be done, shall-" her sentence wasn't finished before she was slammed backwards toward the ground. She looked up to see her son.

"Zari, you've taken the wrong side, but this is going to be fun," as she struck against them.

"No, I haven't," as he fired back

The fight waged on as Tenzin arrived and knelt to see if Lin was alive. He felt her pulse and it was weak. He glanced up to see where the battle was. Lin needed a healer now.

Zari bent lava and metal at his mother while she tried to bend the earth from underneath him. He flips in the air and lands hard as he feels a piece of earth slam into his chest. His mother's about to strike again when she's blasted to the side by Tenzin.

Zari looks up blearily at Tenzin, surprised that the councilman would help him.

Tenzin gestured towards Lin, "Zari, she needs to get to a hospital quickly."

Zari nodded and he looked over at Tenzin, "Can you handle her?"

Tenzin nods, "I can do my best. Just help Lin."

Zari nods and picks up Lin. He bends the earth into a surfboard as he starts to quickly move through the streets of Republic City.

He feels Lin shift in his arms and he looks down, "Hang on. We're almost there."

Lin vaguely hears him, too distracted by the pain she feels in her abdomen. She whimpers in response.

Zari's greatful when he finally gets to the hospital, "I need help over here!" he shouts.

Two healers come running out with a gurney and he gently places Lin down.

"She uh...got kicked in the stomach and was beat up a bit too. She was also chi-blocked."

The healer nods, "Ok, sir. We'll take it from here. You need to wait in the lobby."

Zari nods and whispers in Lin's ear, "Everything's going to be fine. Plus, I need you to be alright. You owe me a 100 yuans."

The healers push him away and he's forced to watch them wheel Lin off. He wants nothing more to go be with her but he knows that he needS to go help Tenzin.

He looks back down the street where he had disturbed many people, most of whom were staring at him. He sighs and hops back on his surf board. He's getting closer to the arena when he sees Tenzin looking like he's about to pass out. Mako, Bolin, and Asami had joined him but they all looked worn down too.

He slams his foot on the ground and feels where his mother was. He opens up a pit of lava underneath her feet. She jumps and flips backwards. She looks up and then looks back towards, Zari, a smile crossing her face.

"Well, well, well, look who's back. Done sending me toys to play with?"

His eyes narrow, "Yep."

He flings a giant chunk of the stadium at her. She dodges it and flings it right back at him. He splits it into smaller piece and sends it into the lava pit he had made earlier. He bends some of the ground at his mother while constructing swords out of the lava and metal. His mother stands, recovered from the rock he had thrown, surprised to see her son whelding two dual swords.

"So that's how you want to play Pi?"

She bends her self a sword and they start to go at it. Lea lunges at Zari and he dodges but she pushes him to the ground using her back leg. His knees hit the ground and he bends something far out of his reach.

He stands up and holds up his remaining sword. Lea smirks, "Ooh. Did baby skin his knee?"

He glances down and sees blood pouring out of his side, "I'm good."

The fight with Zari backing Lea closer to the arena. She manges to push him to the ground a second time and she sit her knee on his chest, "Are you ready to yield?"

He spits blood at her, "I'd rather die."

She shrugs, "I can make that happen."

She strikes at him but Mako shoots a bolt of fire at her. Lea rolls her eyes, "Oh so the toys are awake. None of you will last five minutes."

"What about me?" Zari hears Korra say. He glances over and he sees her eyes begin to glow. He looks at his mother and he sees fear flash across her face. Korra is over to her in a blink of her eye and takes her bending. Zari lets out a sigh of relief as he sees his mother collapse.

Bolin looks up, "You couldn't have done that sooner?"

She glares at Zari, "He trapped me. Speaking of which," she launched cables at him to arrest him. Honestly, he didn't have the energy to snap them.

"Korra, what are you doing?!" Bolin practically screamed, "He's Lin's baby daddy."

She looked at him in surprise, "You're-"

"Yep," Zari said standing up.

Tenzin glanced at him in alarm, "Zari, you're bleeding."

He glanced down, "Yep."

Everything went black.


	9. Chapter 9

Zari woke with a start. He realized that for the first time in months he was breathing without pain. He looked around the room and saw that he was in a hospital. Suddenly, the events of the last few hours flashed through his mind and he almost jumped out of the bed when he felt Kya gently push him back down.

"Calm down, Zari. Everything's alright," she said calmly.

"Lin...the babies...a-a-are they okay?" he stuttered.

"For now. A surgical team and I managed to stop the bleeding and the labor. Lin will need to be on bed rest for the rest of her pregnancy, and is resting comfortably."

Zari nodded mutely as he digested what Kya had just said.

Kya continued, "You, on the other hand, have been unconscious for the last 72 hours. You broke 6 of you twelve ribs, a punctured lung, and bleeding in your brain. I managed to heal your injuries, and I advise you take it easy. You have several stitches that can be easily popped, and I cannot promise it will hurt less the second time. Any questions?"

"Can I see Lin?"

Kya smiled, "I think she would like that, since she's been trying to sneak out her room all day. I'll go get her, don't move."

Zari nodded as he watched Kya's retreating form.

A few moments later Kya wheeled Lin into the room, and parked her by his bed. Kya left the room, and Lin looked over at him.

"Hi," she said.

"Hi," he responded drinking in her appearance. She was awake, which was about a thousand times better than when he last saw her. She seemed fine.

She gestured towards his injuries, "How are you feeling?"

He glanced down, "Sore but better than I have been in the last few months."

"Good," she said as she socked him in the arm.

"Ouch!" he exclaimed as his hand immediately flew to his arm, "What was that for?!"  
She glared, "I don't know, lying about your family, destroying an arena, dying! Pick one!"

He winced, "I'm sorry!"

"Sorry does change the past few months of me worrying about you!" she exclaims.

They're both silent for a while as he waits for Lin to calm down a little.

He breathes out, "I am sorry. I...I'm sorry I died on you. I didn't mean too. I should've told you about Lea. I thought she was gone but I guess she wasn't."

Lin nods, "I know that those aren't completely your fault. Everything about Lea was redacted and you can't control when you get kidnapped. It's just...hormones."

He shrugs, "Still made you feel better."

She gives him a small smile, "Yeah."

They're silent again before he clears his throat, "I um… also should have told you about Sokka. It's just…complicated. I didn't lie when I told you about my dad. Some of the stuff I just let you assume it was my adoptive dad who I did it with. It was just easier."

She nods, "I get that. So...you had a relationship with Sokka?'

"For a bit. He's the one who took me to the abandoned building. We kept in touch through the occasional letter but communication faded off. I was sorry to hear he died."

Lin swallows, "Me too."

"So…" she continues, "I'm guessing he picked the name Piandao?"

Zari chuckles, "Yep. He wanted some input. My adoptive parents picked Zarif. Although Sokka's the one who gave me the nickname Zari. My parents preferred full names."

They drift into silence again, this time a comfortable one. That is until Lin began to shift around a bit.

"You alright?"

Lin nods, "Yep. The twins are just kicking."

He nods quietly and it occurs to Lin that he's never felt the twins move before.

"Do you want to feel?"

His eyebrows raise, "Um...can I?"

She nods as she gestures for him to scoot over on the bed.

He looks at her, "Your not suppose to be moving."

"Do you want to feel or not?"

He slides over and Lin gently lifts herself onto the bed with a little help from Zari.

"Comfortable?" he asks.

She nods, although she doesn't want to admit that the hospital bed was about a thousand times more comfortable than wheel chair. She leans back against the pillows and grabs Zari's hand. She gently guides it to where she feels the twins. As they kick, she watches a smile grow slowly across his face.

He looks up at her, "You know you still owe me a hundred yuans, right?"

She playfully glares but leans into his embrace, content to feel her children move around inside her and to be with him, "Shut up."

* * *

It had been about a month since Lin and Zari were released from the hospital, and she was seven months pregnant. Ever since the attack, she had been on bed rest per Katara's orders. The transition period was rough, since Lin was stubbornly refusing any help offered. She originally insisted that she was fine and could handle it, but that ended when Katara walked in on a surprise visit, and found her out of bed.

_It was mid-morning when Lin had finally had enough of sitting around. It had been two weeks since she and Zari had been released, and things between them had been good. Lin still hadn't asked him to move in to help her, because she felt like she would be a burden to him. Although he hadn't left her side since they were released and she enjoyed his company. This morning, she convinced him to go home and check up on things. He had only agreed after she promised to stay put until he got back. At the time, she didn't think it would be hard, but she got really bored after Zari left. Anyways, the babies were moving around and she was hungry. The maid had gone out, and Zari was at his apartment. It couldn't hurt to go make a sandwich, right?_

_Lin managed to waddle her way into the kitchen without any problems. She found the seal jerky, and began to make a seal jerky sandwich; Sokka's specialty. As she was about to bite into her sandwich, Kya burst through the door with a hulk like look on her face._

_Lin grinned sheepishly, "Hey, Kya…"_

"_Lin Beifong! What are you doing out of bed?! I came to surprise you with a nice visit and this is what I find!"  
Lin shrugged, "The babies were hungry."_

"_The babies were hungry?"_

_Lin took the glare from her cousin as a sign to leave, "Yeah, and we were just going back to bed so their great-aunt can check them out."_

"_Uh-huh, that's what I thought," Kya said as she lead Lin back to the bedroom._

_After checking Lin and the babies out, Kya gave Lin permission to finally eat her sandwich._

"_The babies are fine for now, but I still want you on bedrest. Your blood pressure is a little high. I want these babies to get to at least 36 weeks before they make their appearance."_

_Lin groaned, but nodded at Kya's instructions, as Kya got ready to leave._

"_Lin," she began to ask, "have you and Zari discussed living together? It would be easier than him going back and forth."_

"_No. It didn't occur to me since, we really haven't dated," she lied._

_Kya rolled her eyes, "Liar. I think all you two have been through shows that you are meant to be together. Don't tell me that you didn't look for him only because he was your children's father."_

_A blushed started to creep up on Lin's face as Kya sat down on the bed._

"_Lin, Zari is a good man, and he cares about you and your children. I don't think he's going to run away."_

"_You have to say that because he's your cousin" by now the entire family knew of Zari's patronage. Bumi was thrilled._

_Kya rolled her eyes, "No I don't. When have I ever done something because I had to? Give living with him a try."_

_Lin nodded as Kya made her way out of the room. Lin heard her open the front door, and she shouted, "And Lin, stay in bed!"_

_Zari came home about two hours later to a silent house. He dropped his bag in the living room, and made his way to the bedroom. He walked into his room, and saw Lin so engrossed into a book, that she hardly noticed his presence. _

_He knocked on the door and said, "Good book?"_

"_Yeah," she said without looking up._

"_What's it about?"_

"_It's the stories of our parent's adventures. Sokka wrote a while ago, but I never bothered to read it," Lin explained._

_Zari walked over and sat next to her on the bed._

"_Are they any good?"_

"_Yeah. Although, I'm pretty sure Sokka's point of view is one sided."_

"_It probably is."_

_Lin put the book down and looked at Zari nervously deciding to rip off the band aid, "Hey, so umm...do you like staying here?"_

_Zari raised an eyebrow "Yeah. Why?"_

"_I was wondering if you wanted to stay here while I'm on bedrest."_

"_Why?" he asked as a smile tugged at his lips._

_Lin mumbled something and he asked her to speak up. "I said...because you're here anyways and it makes since."_

"_And?"_

"_And, what?"_

_He smirked, "You know what."_

_She glares, "I don't need you here."_

"_Really because Kya said otherwise earlier," he said with a raised eyebrow._

_Her glare deepens, "When did you see Kya? Never mind. If you saw her then you already know what."_

"_Yeah well I want you say it. Needing help isn't a weakness."_

"_No."_

_He raises an eyebrow, "Do you want be to stay here or not?"_

_She remains silent for a moment, "Fine. You're right."_

_He gives her a look and she looks back, "That's all you're going to get."_

"_We'll work on it," he says as he kisses her cheek._

_Zari chuckled as Lin scowled._

_His smile grows as he says, "You are going to be mad when I tell you this, but I've been thinking about moving in. I kind of packed up most of my apartment today."_

_Lin punched him in the arm._

"_What was that for?!" he cried as he began rubbing his arm._

"_You practically made me beg! Plus, it's how I show my affection."_

"_Yeah, I'm starting to get that!"_

Lin and Zari have now been living together for two weeks, and so far it was going well. Zari stayed home most of the day with Lin, while only going into his shop on the occasion. He hadn't started any new projects yet; he didn't plan to start many new ones until the babies were born. While living together, the began to get to know each other more, and realized that they had a lot in common. Several of their friends came to visit, and it became apparently obvious that the two of them had fallen deeply in love. Well, it was obvious to everyone except them. They had become fast friends, even though they were polar opposites. They were the classic case of yin and yang.

* * *

Zari came home from his shop to a silent house. He walked to the bedroom he shared with Lin, and smiled when he saw she was fast asleep on the bed. She hadn't been sleeping well the last couple days because the twins had refused to stop kicking. They must have finally decided to let their mother rest. He walked quietly over to the bathroom to take a shower to get the paint off of him. He had completely finished his last couple of projects that day, and he was happy that he would be able to take more time off to spend with Lin. Well, spend time with Lin and complete the nursery. Lin said he could do whatever he wanted with the room and he was excited. He had so many ideas. He wanted to make cribs and put the babies names on them. Now that he thought about it, he and Lin hadn't even discussed names.

Zari walked out of the shower to find Lin stirring from her nap.

"Hey Lin," he said as he walked over and kissed her on the cheek, "I see that the wonder twins have finally stopped kicking."

"Yeah, they stopped a couple of hours ago. How was your day?"

"Fine, finished my paintings. Hey, speaking of the twins, don't you think it's time we name them?" he said as he rubbed her belly.

"Probably. You have any name suggestions?"

Lin and Zari went back and forth on names for over an hour with absolutely no progress.

Lin groaned, "How about this, I choose the first name for the boy and the middle name for the girl. You do vice versa."

"Okay. What's his first name going to be?"

Lin sat thoughtfully, "Ximon."

"I like it. His middle name will be Hieu."

"I love it. What's our daughter's first name?"

"Giana," Zari said quickly.

Lin raised an eyebrow, "Giana, huh? Where'd you get that name from?"

"It was my adoptive mother's name. You like it?"

"I do. I like Sen for her middle name."

"Why Sen?"

"It means lotus, which is the same meaning as my mother's."

"So our daughter is basically named after your mother?"

"Yep. Do not tell her."

"She'll figure it out. I like them. Ximon Hieu Beifong Yang and Giana Sen Beifong Yang. How do you two like your name?"

Lin and Zari smiled as they felt the twins kick in response.

"I think they like it," Lin said with a smile, "But when they refuse to go back to sleep, you're staying up with me."

He kissed her cheek, "Always."


End file.
